settle our bones like wood over time
by fruitwhirl
Summary: Annabeth's not sure if the homes they've built will ever be completely filled by other demigods or their ancestors, but she wants to hope. (a proposal)


**a/n: got an anon request on tumblr for a quick percabeth proposal, and i whipped this out in about an hour, between my brother trying to explain naruto to me and me, crying over a seafret song. warning, i did not edit this. so i am sorry. anyways, title comes from "north" by sleeping at last.**

* * *

For all of her talk about creating something permanent, for constructing something for future generations to remember her for, Annabeth had never really allowed herself to be included in those visions. Sure, it was one of her deepest desires when she was thirteen and in the midst of the sea and hypnotized by the siren song of hubris, but realistically, she had expected to die before her sixteenth birthday.

She allows herself to dream of a future where she's alive and she's with the people that she loves and _they're_ safe and happy, until that too is destroyed by one of the most important pieces of her disappearing into the California wilderness. And then it's being lost in the actual depths of hell, and leaving behind comrades to burn, and clawing their way out and then defeating a hoard of goddamn giants and then their _mother,_ who just happens to be the actual earth.

There's been so much happen during her lifetime, she expects to drop dead at some point.

But she doesn't, _they_ don't, and she makes it to eighteen, then nineteen, twenty, twenty-one. Annabeth doesn't even realize it until they're lying in their shared bed in the cabin that they built together. It's the last one they tackled; in the recently constructed New Athens (yes, they totally took from their roman counterparts), they focused first on increasing border security, then erecting other services—a library, a tutoring center, a coffee house even. She's not sure if the homes they've built will ever be completely filled by other demigods or their ancestors, but she wants to hope.

She's the one to bring it up.

"Percy, we're about to be twenty-two," she whispers.

"Correction: you're about to be twenty-two. I've got another month." His words come out teasing but muffled, because his lips are pressed against her curls.

Moving to rest her head instead against his chest, Annabeth chuckles, reaches up her hand to tangle in the dark hair at the base of his neck. "Did you ever imagine living this long?"

"No," he says, and she appreciates his honesty. "For most of my life, I was just a troubled kid who couldn't seem to fit in. I spent the first four years knowing you and this camp having everyone expecting me to just die, and I was terrified. And then it was just fighting back, day after day, trying to make sure I'd get back to you and my mom and the rest of my family. But…."

"But?"

"When I first got to Camp Jupiter, and I think Hazel was showing me around New Rome, I could imagine a future _there,_ or someplace like it, with you and a kid or two if that's what you wanted." Percy's told her this before, and while he doesn't freeze anymore before saying it (like he's afraid she's going to reject the idea, the idea of creating a generation who are so much better than they could ever be), there's an air to his voice this time, like that it's leading somewhere.

She nods, her eyelids growing heavy. "I'm glad we could start our own New Rome here. We're close to your mom and Paul and your sister, and to Manhattan and _home._ "

"I'm happy to share this place here with you," he agrees, and it's so soft, she can feel her heart sink deeper into her chest; not from pain, but from a feeling of total contentment. "I actually wanted to ask—"

"Ask in the morning," she mumbles into his shirt, sleep's pull on her too strong, too enticing. "'m too tired to give you the right answer."

He sounds like he's about to argue, but then he just sighs, kisses her temple so tenderly she almost asks him what his question was, and then he tightens his arm around her waist as she falls into the abyss that is slumber.

* * *

Annabeth rises in the morning with terrifyingly odorous breath to an empty bed, sunlight streaming through the big window they placed on the other side of the room. At first, she's bemused, because ever since that curse that turned him invincible (even if it's gone now), Percy's always been the heavier sleeper of the two. That had halted, after Tartarus, but still. It took him a year or so to feel safe in his bed again, but he still sleeps like a baby.

"Percy," she calls throughout their tiny cabin, which is ridiculous, because as previously stated, it's tiny. They have a small living area, a kitchenette, a bedroom and a bathroom. And she hasn't heard him fumbling around, so she doesn't think he's in here. She wonders why he left without waking her.

Then, she checks her watch, curses in Latin because _fuck,_ she forgot that she was teaching a sparring lesson today for a batch of intermediate campers, and now she's late and she rushes, not even bothering to look into the mirror or brush her hair before leaving and running flat out to the main camp, because they technically live on the outskirts closer to the water and—

She's apparently not that late, because none of the teenagers seem to care that much when she arrives to the arena, though one does compliment her necklace, which Annabeth is used to; she's been here for nearly fifteen years now, and she's had to get a longer cord to fit all of the beads she's garnered. So she just thanks the girl, a daughter of Nemesis with a wicked sword, and gets on to explaining a tricky maneuver, and that's her morning, and then she's catching lunch with Piper, who's wide-eyed at the sight of her as she sits down with a plate of sweet potato fries.

"Annabeth, I'm so happy for you!"

She seems just so… excited, which just causes the blonde to furrow her brow. "Why?"

It's Piper's turn to be confused, and she's frowning. "Why wouldn't I be? You're my best friend and—"

"Yo, McLean!"

The brunette turns her head to the sharp call, and it's apparently just Leo but Piper grumbles under her breath, making her friend promise that they'd talk about this later. Annabeth's not sure what to say, so she just nods in agreement, or maybe just acknowledgement of the weird behavior.

And the rest of her day continues like this, with random teenagers and friends congratulating her for what, she doesn't know, and she's so frustrated that by the time night comes, she plops herself down by Percy, who's sitting by the water like he always does on clear nights like this, when he really feels connected to the ocean.

"Rough day?"

He offers her one of his barbeque chips, which she gladly accepts and pops into her mouth. "More like a weird day. Everyone kept on telling me congratulations, and there's nothing for them to congratulate me on at the moment that most of them haven't already."

"Maybe it's just that everyone finally realized you're the hottest mortal to grace the planet," he says, and then in a whisper, teasing. "I'd say 'woman' but I'd rather not start another Trojan War."

"And I'd rather not be objectified."

Percy chuckles, and she leans into his side and lays her head in the crook of his neck and he kisses her forehead, feather light, brings his hand up to the tangle of her curls. "Someone didn't brush their hair this morning."

"I was running late, no thanks to _someone,_ " she retorts.

He goes on the defense, says something about how he's been waiting _years_ to see her actually drool in her sleep, just so he can get back at her for that stupid comment (that she's stupidly proud of) she made ten years ago.

And then they just remain like this, still in the early summer night, wrapped up in each other and their lives, until she tilts her chin, looks up at him. "What were you going to ask me? Last night, when I fell asleep on you?"

He doesn't answer, instead facing her, and just as she thinks he's about to bring his hand to her cheek, he directs his fingers to her chest, to her collarbone. His thumb grazes something on her necklace, maybe the piece of coral he had gifted her when they'd first started dating. She doesn't look down.

"I guess you haven't had a chance to look in the mirror today, huh?"

She raises an eyebrow. "Do I really look that bad?"

He shakes his head fervently at that, kisses her softly. "I just, when you hadn't come to find me today, I was just hoping that it was because you were running so late you didn't have a chance to see it, rather than you being angry at me for it."

"For what?"

And then she looks down, finally, at her dad's class ring that he's got his finger on, and she's about to ask him again until she realizes that it's already hanging on the other side of the coral, and instead, there's a different ring in its place.

"Being half-bloods is hard for us, and when you're surrounded by everyone who claims they're related to you, it's hard to find your real family," he says slowly.

Her hand moves to cover his own.

He doesn't go into a full-on speech, because he knows how she feels about those, but he does tell her that he loves her and she kisses him before he can even ask the question, and somehow, all feels right in the world.

Here, by the sea and the stars and with the moon glowing white above them, she kisses the boy she loves and imagines a future for herself that seven year old her never thought she could have.

* * *

 **a/n:** **catch me at dmigod on tumblr! feel free to send prompts, as always.**


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